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Open Source Components can Cause a Headache

Name one legal issue that most entrepreneurs don’t consider when starting a business, but should.

Using open source components! The number of startups that grab open source components to whip something together is growing by the second. However, startups need to consider the licenses that govern these components. I’ve taken the engineering department at CoachUp through two rounds of Venture Capital and each time the licensing issue has come up during our due diligence process. It is your responsibility to understand what your technology does under the hood. It’s great to just plug new tools and libraries into your codebase and be off and running, but remember that comes with a price. The worst thing possible is to get deep in the due diligence process with a VC firm and then have your deal fall through because you based your technology on a tool or library in a way that does not give you ownership of it.